CHARLOTTE — Thiswas the biggest game of Cam Newton’s pro career — at least so far.

And the Saints seemed to frustrate him again until the last minute.

Despite the rain, everything seemed to come together for the playoff-bound Panthers this Sunday and this season even with the history of collapses. Newton’s teams have blown fourth-quarter leads in 10 games before.

The quarterback had two fourth-quarter comebacks before the season and with Sunday’s win, it was the Panthers’ fourth of the season.

This time, the Luke Kuechly-led defense produced turnovers and kept the Saints in check. Then, in the last minute came Ted Ginn’s catches and then Steve Smith backup Domenik Hixon’s14-yard touchdown catch with 23 seconds left.

“We knew we were one drive, one play away,” said Newton, the third-year pro who is now 24-23 as a starter. “It was frustrating, but that’s why you’re going to have these games.”

All game long, the Saints tried to close in on the Panthers, but Newton controlled the tempo again despite being sacked four times.

“He threw a lot of gutsy balls and gutsy plays and he came out with that win,” Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan related.

Maybe, losing Smith to a knee injury early slowed down this Panthers offense. But DeAngeloWilliams was able to break away late in the second quarter. As Panthers offensive guard Jordan Gross later admitted, the team’s third-down play wasn’t good.

“It was a slow day for us, offensively. But the beautiful thing was we did it when it mattered,” Gross said.

Surely, the Panthers wanted to put up the points and execute their plays earlier. But it will have to do for now. With entry into the playoffs and a possible NFC South title in sight, their goals are still not reached. And then there’s a possibility the team may not have Smith in the offense. (A Monday MRI on his injured left knee will tell that tale.)

“Those were some tough conditions. I can’t image a guy’s going to have a career day,” Gross said. “We’ve got to protect better. Overall, our offense numbers have been down this year, but we’re winning games. I’m not going to complain about that.”

Ask Newton if Sunday’s win was his best, he’ll shrug it off and say no.